Caskett Wedding One Shot
by SuperSabs
Summary: Will the ceremony go on when the bride has a breakdown in the dressing room? A one shot in two parts. The original chapter didn't get enough response, so I went back in time a bit to fill in some gaps. Debating about a third chapter covering more of Kate's thoughts inside the bathroom as well as how Martha retrieved Castle. Anyone interested in that?
1. Chapter 1

The guests in the pews were beginning to get restless, whispering to each other.

"The ceremony was supposed to start twenty minutes ago. Why hasn't Rick's mom been escorted in? Did something happen? Is everyone okay?"

The paid musician at the organ's keyboard was also getting restless, wondering how many times he should repeat the songs the bride and groom had chosen before giving up.

The pastor pacing in the hallway was getting nervous, wondering if the bride and groom would ever come out of the bride's dressing room.

Inside the dressing room, Lanie, Martha, and Rick were huddled around the closed bathroom door.

"Kate, you need to come out here."

"Everyone is waiting."

A muffled voice answered from behind the door.

"I can't. I can't walk down that aisle like this!"

Lanie was getting mad, "Girl, you come out here right now! You are walking down that aisle today, even if you have to do it in your sleep pants and T-shirt."

Ignoring her girlfriend's comment, Kate continued freaking out.

"How did I not notice? Why didn't I try the dress on again?"

"Come on out, darling," Martha coaxed, "We'll make it work."

"It's a disaster!" Kate nearly shouted.

"Kate," Rick spoke, "I don't care what you or your dress looks like. I just want to marry you. If you want, I'll strip down to my boxers and we can both get married in our pajamas."

Behind the door Kate chuckled lightly.

"Thanks for the offer," she said, cracking the door open for the first time.

Rick turned around, confusing the ladies, as Kate stepped out of the bathroom.

"It's bad luck to see your dress before the wedding," he explained.

"Shut up and turn around Castle," Kate growled. "Technically the wedding started a half hour ago, and this well may be the only time you see the dress if we can't figure out how to get the damn thing buttoned."

Suddenly the door banged open and Alexis came running in, out of breath.

"I got it," she huffed as she handed Kate a small shopping bag.

"You sure about this," she asked Rick, looking into his eyes, her nerves betraying her.

"God yes, nothing could make me happier," Rick answered.

Kate returned to the bathroom before calling for Lanie's assistance. Martha laughed before explain to her son.

"The dress is a bit hard to manage."

Rick smiled nervously, pacing outside the bathroom door.

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When the pastor finally walked onto the platform with Rick forty-three minutes after the ceremony was officially slated to begin, the crowd of friends and family cheered. Rick smiled, and held up his hand, silencing the group.

"Sorry about that," his voice carried across the room, his face beaming, "this may be a little unorthodox, but when have Beckett and I done anything the usual way?"

The crowd tittered. Rick nodded to the organist and the ceremony began.

When Mendelssohn's classic march began playing, everyone in the room rose to their feet and turned to face the double doors at the back of the room.

When the doors opened, and Rick saw Kate standing there with her father, his arm around her waist, his jacket over her shoulders, he was overwhelmed with love. Her cheeks were pink with anxiety and embarrassment, but her eyes shone with joy. Her head rested on her father's shoulder, looking up into his face with such adoration. A tear ran down Rick's cheek.

And then she turned and looked at her future husband, and he found himself unable to breath. His heart was racing. His world was spinning. His dreams were coming true and he could hardly believe it. Watching the way Kate's father held her as they walked down the aisle toward him, smiling at the loving gesture of giving up his jacket to cover his daughter's unsuccessful wedding gown, he pinched himself to make sure this was real.

"Ouch" he yelped. When all eyes turned to him, he muttered "Oops." Kate just rolled her eyes at him, and his grin grew impossibly wide. They were doing this. This was happening.

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When she heard the words "You may kiss the bride," Kate dove into Rick's arms. The crowd laughed as they shared an embarrassingly long embrace. The pastor cleared his throat and the organist tried to start the exit song. Castle had other plans. He motioned at the organist to stop playing, and he caught his mother's eye before looking into Kate's eyes.

"You sure about this?" he whispered. She nodded.

They turned to the crowd, and clung to each other's hands.

Rick started, "You may have noticed that my wife," he beamed at the use of the word, "is wearing Mr. Beckett's jacket."

The crowd nodded, thankful to be getting an explanation for the odd wardrobe choice.

"And the late start to the ceremony," Beckett added.

"Just tell them already!" Martha interjected from her front row seat.

"This morning I discovered that I couldn't get my dress buttoned." The crowd started whispering, some cheeks flushing red with empathetic embarrassment for the poor woman.

"Hush," Rick silenced the crowd, "She's not fat."

Kate glared at her husband.

"She's pregnant."

At this the crowd gasped, the momentary stunned silence replaced with applause. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rick Castle beamed at the room full of friends and family.

"Okay," Rick nodded to the organist and the happy couple descended the stairs into their new life.


	2. Chapter 2

Earlier that day:

Kate was in front of the mirror, watching Alexis's reflection curl and pin her hair. She was having trouble believing that this was really happening. She smoothed her dress across her lap, marveling at the detail in the fabric, wondering how she hadn't noticed just how _tight_ it was. And the neckline, how had she failed to see how it accentuated her chest, creating the most unbelievable cleavage. She felt gorgeous. Castle was going to have trouble keeping his chin off the floor. She smiled at her reflection, adding another layer of gloss to her lips, unaware of the whispered conversation taking place just outside the room.

"Martha," Lanie pleaded. "What the hell am I gonna do? I can't tell my best friend that she doesn't fit in her wedding dress. Girl's gonna kill me!"

"Don't worry. She left her gun at the loft," Martha tried to reassure her, "At least I think she did."

"Not helping!"

"Okay," Martha focused on Lanie, "How bad is it?"

"It buttoned up to about her hips, but I couldn't get it closed around her hips. I buttoned down from the top then, so she didn't notice the gaping hole. But everything above her legs is stretched to the max. I'm worried it will tear. It's bad Martha. Real bad."

"There's no time to add a panel," Martha thought out loud, "What about covering it with a cape?"

"It's 94 degrees outside. I don't think anyone has a cape lying around."

"What about some sort of train that starts at the base of her neck?"

"I'm sure she'd love that. It'd look great with that trim little number she's wearing. We could totally get away with it. She'd never notice an extra three pounds of fabric tangling her all up."

"We have to tell her."

"Hm-mm," Lanie shook her head, "Not me."

"She can't go out there like that! She really would kill you!" Martha's excitement caused her voice to be pitched a great deal higher than she realized.

Inside the dressing room, Kate tilted her head, catching Alexis's eye in the mirror.

"What is your grandmother talking about?"

Alexis's eyes widened. She hands froze in Kate's hair. She swallowed loudly.

"Ummmmmmm," she stalled.

Kate pushed back her chair, nearly knocking the girl over, and stalked to the double doors into the hall. She yanked them open, fire blazing in her eyes, startling the two women arguing in the passageway.

"What the hell is going on?" she bellowed.

"Can we," Martha motioned into the room, glancing nervously up and down the hall, hoping her son didn't hear the commotion.

Beckett stepped aside, slamming the door the moment Martha and Lanie were inside.

"Talk. Now." She demanded, her cop voice turning Lanie's knees to jelly.

"Well…" while Lanie struggled to talk to her best friend, Martha shooed Alexis across the room, trying to get away from Beckett's coming fury.

"Your dress didn't button." Lanie spit the words out fast, like ripping a band-aid off.

"What?" Kate went pale, her knees starting to buckle. Fortunately Martha was quick with the vanity stool, catching her before she fell.

Kate's eyes were wide, her expression more confused than angry.

"It fit like a glove two months ago," she muttered.

"You been stress eating?" Lanie asked.

"Hardly," Kate snorted, "I can barely keep anything down."

Lanie's eyes went wide.

"What am I going to do?" Kate asked her friend.

Instead of answering, Lanie asked a life-changing question.

"Kate? When was your last period?"

Beckett's world began to spin.

"Oh my God," she groaned before running to the bathroom and vomiting in the sink.

Taking charge, Lanie pointed to Martha.

"Get Castle."

Pointing to Alexis, she said "My purse is the green one over there. Find the closest pharmacy and pick up a pregnancy test. Or three."

She strode over to the bathroom, knocking on the door.

"Kate, honey, you need to come out."


End file.
